BCHL New Season Opens Tonight – Playoff Rivalries on Tap

Training camp and preseason are officially over and now the action starts for real as the BCHL regular season fires up off this weekend, the 57th in league history.

As usual there are plenty of storylines heading into the season, after a summer that saw a great deal of change in the league including a new commissioner in Chris Hebb and several coaches changes.

There are also a number of key playoff matchups on tap for the openers, including:

Opening weekend – playoff rematches:

Wenatchee Wild @ Vernon Vipers:
These two teams met in the second round of last year’s BCHL playoffs and will meet again in Friday’s season opener. After dropping the first two games on the road in last year’s series, the Wild responded with four straight victories to eliminate the Vipers en route to their first-ever league championship.

Chilliwack Chiefs @ Prince George Spruce Kings:
These teams went the distance in the first round of last year’s Fred Page Cup playoffs as the Spruce Kings defeated the Chiefs in seven games. In a series featuring an immense amount of travel and incredible goaltending , Prince George won the deciding game by a score of 3-1 to advance to the next round. The teams will play back-to-back games in Prince George to kick off the season starting Friday.

West Kelowna Warriors @ Trail Smoke Eaters:
The Warriors will look to avenge last year’s disappointing playoff performance where they were swept by the Smoke Eaters who scored 23 goals in four games. Both teams have head coaches making their BCHL debut behind the bench. They will play a home-and-home starting Friday in Trail.

Victoria Grizzlies @ Powell River Kings:
These teams met in last year’s postseason for the fifth time in six years and the Kings came out victorious in five games. Both teams are returning high-scoring forwards who are looking to improve on impressive 2017-18 seasons. They open their seasons Saturday in Powell River.